That Magical Moment
by xoxcrescentmoonxox
Summary: ...when Ron and Hermione finally get together. Travel down to the Chamber of Secrets with them, and learn what took place before the Battle of Hogwarts.
1. Down the Pipe

**A/N: This is a ficlet telling the story of what Ron and Hermione **_**really**_** did when they were down in the Chamber during DH. There'll only be five short chapters, switching viewpoints between them. One more thing… I always hate when people say this, but… in my opinion, this is the weakest chapter, and if you like the idea but not this chapter so much, I suggest you put it on alert anyway, as it does (I think, anyway) get better.**

**Inspired by Megsy's First Kiss Challenge at HPFC.**

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**Chapter 1**

"Hurry," Ron hisses into my ear, placing his hand on my back to nudge me along. My heart, already pumping hard from running, threatens to burst out of my chest from the heat of his hand so near.

"Maybe if I was as tall as you, I could run as fast," I retort, highly aware of his gangly frame towering above me.

His hand tenses, and I prepare for another meaningless squabble brought on by me. "Maybe," is all Ron says, as reach the entrance to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

That one little word is like a reprieve, stopping the approaching argument. As his hand reaches over my shoulder to push open the door, I beam up at him. He grins back. "I've gotten maturer. Funny how mortal peril sobers a guy up."

Laughing, I gently hit his arm, keeping my hand resting there for a couple of extra seconds as we walk to the circle of sinks.

"Which one is it?" I ask him. His face twists as he tries to remember.

"That one!" The one with the tiny snake carved on the faucet; I should have known.

Ron paces around it, his "thinking face" on. The one where his eyes turn to slits, and his mouth looks like he ate a lemon.

"Hermione," he says, speculating aloud. "When we came here in second year, Harry used Parseltongue to get in; he said 'open'. He said the same thing again when he was opening R.A.B.'s locket earlier this year, but I don't know if I remember how it went.

"Just give it a go," I reply. "Like any foreign language: parrot the sounds, screw the meaning."

He looks over at me, delighted. "You sound like me!"

"Well, I heard it from Fred… but it could be your philosophy too; I'm sure he'll share."

Ron chuckles. "I'll be sure to mention it first thing after the battle."

"That's great, Ronald, now open the Chamber!" I say, bringing him back to the present.

"Oh." He shrugs sheepishly. "Right."

Now, Ron's concentrating on the faucets really hard. He begins hissing, an unnatural, guttural sound. The longer he tries to say 'Open', the paler and more animalistic his face gets, almost as though he's turning into the snake he's trying to mimic. By the time the sinks slide open, I'm shaking.

"Hey. Mione?" he asks. "You okay?"

I gaze up at him, and now he seems so _normal_; he's the right color, and his face has no hint of the scaly pattern that was there a moment ago.

"Trick of- of the light," I stammer.

Ron looks doubtful, but he puts his arm around me, holding me close until I calm down. _No!_ I want to shout. _No, don't do that, not unless you want to have me, right here, right now!_ I start laughing hysterically at the absurdity of my last thought; Ron takes a breath like he's about to say something, but instead mutters, "No, I don't want to know." Then aloud, "Ready to go down?" I nod. "Together or apart?"

"Together," I reply. "No way am I going down there alone."

We sit on the edge of the sink, him straddling me as though we're riding a sled, me firmly gripping Hufflepuff's cup. He pushes us off the edge, and we fly down into darkness.

"Ahh!" I scream, feeling the bottom of my stomach drop out.

"Relax," he says, breath warm in my hair. "It's just a giant slide."

"Really, _really_ giant."

He laughs in my ear. "I think we're almost at the- oof!"

The slide spits the two of us out. I land hard on my knees, catching myself with my hands, and letting go of the cup in the process; it clatters across the floor. When Ron comes out of the chute a split second later, he lands right on me, knocking my chin into the floor.

We get up, examining each other for bruises. "Ah, Hermione… I think I cut your chin when I fell on you."

I run my hand over it gently; it comes away smeared with blood.

"Here- let me." Ron cups my chin in one of his hands, tilting it up so he can see. "Scourgify. There, that did it."

"Thanks," I murmur. He's still holding my chin up. "Are you going to-" _kiss me?_

"Oh! Er, sorry, here. Let's go."

For the first time, I notice my surroundings. The shadowy tunnel, fading away into a curve. The bones piled on the floor, some obviously animal, some… not. We're at the beginning of the Chamber of Secrets.

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**Disclaimer: In this fic, the plot is barely even mine – it's just an extension of Rowling's.**

**If you've gotten this far, I'd love a review. It doesn't have to be long, just a quick note to let me know you've read, and (hopefully) enjoyed – I'd do the same for you.**


	2. Through the Tunnel

**A/N: You'll figure this out pretty quickly anyway, but the POV switched.**

**Chapter 2**

I've taken the lead, as I've been here before; I remember the tunnel. Animal bones crunch under our feet; the tunnel echoes with the sound. Behind me, Hermione's footsteps are irregular; I can hear her moving from side to side, trying to dodge the bones.

We're quiet as we walk for what feels like an eternity, until we come to a pile of rocks partially blocking the tunnel. Looking back at Hermione, her face is pale under my wandlight.

"Is this where-?" she begins.

"Where Lockhart blasted the roof down on us? Uh-huh. The git."

Hermione laughs. "He was sort of one, wasn't he?"

"Took you long enough," I mutter.

"I heard that," she replies, slipping through the gap in the rocks, the one I cleared five years ago. I follow, glancing nervously around- I can't quite forget that giant snakeskin that was here last time.

"Please, please don't let it have had babies." I don't realize I've spoken aloud until Hermione turns back to me.

"Honestly, Ron, didn't you _ever_ listen to Professor Grubby-Plank's lessons? The basilisk is a creature born of legend, so it has no sex, which means it can't reproduce."

"I'm glad you listened to that lesson," I tell her. "It saved me a lot of terr-ah!"

A giant snakeskin is draped across her path. "Merlin," breathes Hermione. Her first reaction was to jump backwards into me, but now, she steps towards the shed. "Fascinating," she says, circling it. "I wonder if it's ever been tested for magical properties; I'm sure it could-"

"Intriguing though that is, Hermione," I interrupt her. "We have more important things to do."

"Right!" She nods. "Okay, well, after the battle, I'll come back here and bring it up to examine it. That is, if we don't…" She trails off, but I know what her unspoken thought was. _As long as we don't die._

I put my arm around her shoulders; she clutches at my waist. "Ron, I-I'm not ready to leave yet."

"Well, good," I say, misinterpreting her words. "Because we haven't got the fangs yet."

"No. I mean, I don't want to die," Hermione says quietly, almost sounding ashamed. "There's too much I haven't done, too many things I haven't said." She stares down at her feet. "I'm sorry I'm not brave."

"Not brave? You? Mione, true bravery is when you do what you're scared to do, not because you have to, but because you want to, for whatever reason. And that's exactly what you're doing right now."

"But that's just it, I _don't_ want to," she wails, burying her face in my shoulder. "I'm seventeen, I should be falling in love, not falling in battle."

She starts crying hard now, and I sink down onto the ground, pulling her onto my lap and rocking her the way Mum used to do with Ginny. _She wants to fall in love._

_Stop, Ron. Don't be dumb. She doesn't want you._

_But,_ one more voice in my head adds, _I can sure as anything try to change that._

"Hey," I whisper into her ear. "It doesn't matter that you didn't want to help. What matters is you _are _helping. And that counts for more than anything, as far as I'm concerned."

She turns to me, eyes glistening in the wavery light. "Oh, Ron. That means more than you know."

"Come on, sweetie," I say, wincing as soon as that word comes out of my mouth. I know how dearly I'll pay for that if Harry ever finds out. Heck, I'll pay if Hermione remembers tomorrow, when everything is over.

_Please, God, don't everything be over for me and Mione tomorrow. Let us live longer, let us love more. If you're feeling at all generous, let it be _me_ that she loves._

My arm tightens protectively around Hermione as we continue towards the Chamber.

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Disclaimer: The plot is barely mine, it's just an extension of JKR's. The dialogue is, though, so don't take it!

**A/N: If you've read this far, I'd love a review. It doesn't have to be long, just a couple words to let me know that you've been here.**

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	3. Into the Chamber

**A/N: There's a bit of language in this chapter, nothing terrible, but still: be warned.**

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Chapter 3

Sweetie. My cheeks pinken. Any other time, I would have laughed at Ron for calling me that, but it doesn't matter right now, we have more important things to do than argue. Besides, at this moment, here in the depths of the castle, it doesn't feel laughably weird, just good weird. I allow him to steer me back into the main tunnel, and we walk with our arms around each other, supporting each other, until we come to a door. It's large and ornate, with a split in the middle where it opens, but no doorknob; instead, a metal snake's head peers up at us. It doesn't move, but it's so real looking that I almost stop Ron from reaching towards it, afraid it'll bite his hand. It doesn't do anything, though. And neither does the door.

"Maybe there's another way?" His eyes dart around to the smaller tunnels branching off the main one.

I shake my head. "Salazar Slytherin would have gone for glamour, not secrecy. I'm sure this is where the basilisk was."

Ron grins at me. "Logical as always. Do you have any more wisdom to share, Wise One?"

"Try telling it to open."

He bends down, looking the snake straight in the eye. "Open," he intones. Then, deadpan, Ron turns to face me. "Didn't work."

"Oh, you know what I mean." I glare playfully at him. "Like you said it to the sink. In Parseltongue."

"Ah, Parseltongue," Ron says, dragging both words out. Then, getting serious, he turns back to the door. Thankfully, this time it only takes a couple tries before the metal snake slides back into a hole in the frame, and the doors part, revealing a huge, cavernous room. The Chamber of Secrets.

The two of us are equally awed as we stare around the room. Nothing Harry described could have prepared us for this. There's a pool of dark, greenish water on either side of a raised walkway, which leads to a huge statue of what I assume is Salazar Slytherin's head. Even more amazing, though, is the monstrous snake carcass that lies across the stone path, half in, half out of the water. Its enormous head, stretched across the rocks, is nothing but bones and a couple shreds of snakeskin. The tail, however, preserved beneath the water, looks as though it could belong to a live animal. I shudder, imagining how frightened Harry must have been when he was fighting the thing.

What terrifies me, though, are the empty eye sockets. I'll never be able to forget the moment when, as Penelope and I peered into her mirror, we saw not the empty hallway we'd been hoping for, but this beast, giant even in the reflection on Penelope's compact. Its eyes, enormous black saucers, flecked with red and yellow, were the last thing I saw before Petrifying.

Ron follows my gaze, and, guessing what I'm thinking, reaches for my hand and holds it tightly in his. We walk together past the snake, all the way to the end of the walkway, until we're standing in the shadow if Slytherin's statue.

When Ron speaks, his voice is full of bitterness. "So this is where he had her." I know the he is Tom Riddle, and the her Ginny. "I wish I'd been there, I'd have done a hell of a lot more to the bastard than gotten him sucked back into a stupid diary." He breathes heavily, angrily. After a moment of indecision, I pull him into a tight hug, comforting him as he's already done so many times to me today.

We stay like that for a few seconds, then, voice thick, Ron breaks away from me. "Well, we should get to the fangs, then."

I nod, turning away discreetly as he ducks his head away, swiping once at his cheek. Not touching, but still united, we slowly, carefully, head for the snake.

He breaks the silence first. "I'm sorry I went off like that, Hermione."

"Don't be," I reply. "I know how hard it is for you, when you can't protect Ginny. Besides, the pressure's getting to both of us."

He smiles at me. "Thanks, Mione."

We approach the carcass quietly, each trying to figure out how to get the teeth.

"Accio, fangs," I try, but they only strain a bit from their places in the snake's mouth. In the end, Ron and I kneel in front of the basilisk, and, using a mixture of magic and tugging, manage to get four fangs.

"Well, that's done, then," he says brightly. "Shall we destroy the cup now?"

I offer him the fang and the cup, produced from my pocket, but he shakes his head. "I did the locket, Harry did the diary. This one's yours."

"Do I just-?" I ask, gesturing towards the fang.

"Stick it in," Ron tells me.

"Okay," I reply, fang poised to strike.

"Wait!" he says, standing up. "I'll give you some privacy – I'll just be in the tunnel?"

"Why?"

He shudders. "Ghost beings come out of it sometimes, if you don't stab soon enough. They play out your deepest fears, your worst nightmare."

Once I'm alone, again ready to drive the fang into the cup, I hear voices coming from inside it. Curious, – it can't be that bad – I lower the fang, and watch as figures emerge from the cup. A slightly older me comes out on one side, and, on the other, and older Ron, arm around a young, curvy woman who bears a strange resemblance to Lavender Brown. Her hair is sleek and straight, teeth white and perfect. On her fourth finger, she wears a ring.

"Hermione," says Ron curtly. My dream self eagerly strides forwards, opening her arms, but Ron formally sticks out his hand. A bewildered look on her face, Hermione shakes it.

Now, the ghost Ron smiles as he introduces the woman beside him. "This is my wife, Adreyn Chrystin Fudge. Cornelius's niece," he says, adding the last part boastfully as he squeezes her waist affectionately.

"Wife?" stammers Hermione, fixated by Ron's hand, moving lower and lower on Adreyn's hip. "You're – you got married?"

Tears streaming down her face, she pushes past them and vanishes; Ron turns to Adreyn. "She changed around our fourth year. Said she was in love with me."

"Her?" asks Adreyn, laughing. "With you? She's nothing but a Mudblood."

"I know. But now I have you," Ron says throatily, turning to face her. I know what he's about to do, and I want this to stop, but can't force my hand down. When I refocus on the scene in the cup, Ron's kissing Adreyn, tongue rammed into her mouth, hands roaming all over her body. Bile rises in my throat, hatred for Adreyn, the little slut, who has everything I don't. Straight hair, beautiful teeth, wizarding blood. Ron.

I slam the fang through her head, into the cup, drawing huge gasping lungfuls of air as I fight to compose myself. The cup splits in two; I start to kick it into the water, but my practical side takes over; instead I scoop it up disdainfully, holding it at arms length. Grabbing a handful of fangs, blinded by tears, I run out of the Chamber.

**Disclaimer: The dialogue and parts of the plot are mine; the rest is JKR's. **

**A/N: I have sixteen people on alert for this, which is amazing! Wouldn't it be great to have sixteen review alerts too? Well, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed! crescent**


	4. Back to the Real World

**Chapter 4**

Hermione darts out into the tunnel, thrusting something into my hands – the remains of Hufflepuff's cup – as she runs by me. I hurry after her, trying to catch onto her hand, but, although she slows down, she pushes me away.

"What did you see?" I ask her gently, but she only shakes her head. Remembering what came out of my own Horcrux, I keep quiet, not wanting to press her anymore.

For a while, we walk quietly through the tunnel, but, as we get to the rock pile, Hermione breaks the silence. "I wonder how they're doing up there. I hope Harry found Ravenclaw's Horcrux."

"Yeah," I reply cautiously, glancing over at her. She's looking straight ahead, face wiped of any emotion. "And, I hope that He Wh – Voldemort hasn't come yet. I don't know what'll happen when he does.

Until that moment, the reality that Voldemort _would_ be coming to Hogwarts hadn't really sunk in for me, and I don't think it had to Hermione either, as her eyes widen and she bites her lip.

"But the teachers," she says. "They'll keep the students safe, won't they? I mean, they're the best in all of Britain."

"Of course they will," I reassure her. Pictures of Ginny flash through my mind – Ginny laughing, Ginny's face when she first walked through Platform 9 3/4, Ginny casting her first spell. She's the only one in my family left at Hogwarts now. I have to keep her safe.

I think Hermione realizes what I'm thinking of, because she reaches over and takes my hand, clasping her fingers between mine and squeezing softly. "I'm scared for her too," she whispers, and, just like that, I lose all my uncertainty. This could be our last night together, _why_ am I standing here like a prat, doing nothing?

"Wait," I murmur, turning to face her. I bend my head down towards her's, and for one blissful moment, I think that this is it, and we're finally going to kiss, but then her eyes dart to the side.

"Ooh, we're here," Hermione says in an unnaturally high voice, avoiding my gaze. "How do we get back up the slide?"

"I – er – well, it doesn't seem like a phoenix is going to appear anytime soon," I reply, making a feeble attempt at a joke. "Do you want me to levitate you or Banish you?"

"Good thinking!" she says sincerely. "And then I can Summon you."

"Exactly."

"Well, Banishing seems like it'll be harder to control… could you levitate me?"

"I think so." My face screws up in concentration as I point my wand at Hermione. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Hermione jets upward; she throws her hands up just in time to avoid bashing into the ceiling. "_Ouch_, Ron. Wait until I get lined up with the hole."

"Right, sorry," I say, lowering her back to the ground. "You okay?"

She nods stiffly and walks over to the pipe. "Ready."

"Wingardium Leviosa!" I watch her fly up into the tunnel, out of sight. "Tell me when you get there, Hermione."

A couple seconds later, she starts shouting down to me. "I can see the top… it's getting closer… I'm out, make me go backwards… okay, let me down." I hear a muted thump as she hits the floor, but to her credit, she doesn't say anything.

"Summon me when you're ready," I call upwards from underneath the hole.

Faintly, I hear "Accio, Ron," then feel myself being tugged up, soaring into the pipe. This is better than the phoenix, better than flying on a broomstick – being unhindered in the air is bliss; maybe Voldemort really did have something there.

Too soon, I rocket out into the bathroom, straight into Hermione – it was her who Summoned me, after all.

Spitting her hair out of my mouth, I laugh. "We have to work on the landings."

"Good plan," Hermione says, pushing me off her. "Let's do that sometime when we _don't _have anything else to do… like maybe killing a mass murderer?"

"Right. Well… back to Harry, then?"

"Lead the way!" She scoops up the basilisk fangs and falls into step behind me.

**Disclaimer: Ron, Hermione, and their plan belong to JKR**

**A/N: One chapter left! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed! Now go ahead, hit that purple button **


	5. That Magical Moment

**A/N: As a couple people have pointed out to me, it is a broom that Ron and Hermione use to get back up the Chamber – I forgot about that until rereading the chapter in DH when they explain to Harry what they were doing, and by then I'd already posted the first couple chapters – I thought it might be a bit hokey to have Ron pull a broom from his jacket right before going up the slide.**

**Disclaimer: Most dialogue in this chapter is JKR's, from Deathly Hallows, pages 622-625. The character's thoughts are mine.**

**Chapter 5**

I run after Ron through the castle. We pass various students, teachers, and Order members, but he doesn't slow down, despite the many stares and hurried questions we get.

"Where are we going?" I finally call up to him; he drops back next to me. "Room of Requirement, we have to stash these fangs somewhere. Besides, Harry might be in there, or someone who knows where he is."

"Good plan." I nod, giving him a small smile.

He looks over at me and smiles back, and I wonder why I didn't let him kiss me. Then

"Where the _hell_ have you been?" We look up to see Harry running towards us, looking frantic and annoyed.

"Chamber of Secrets," replies Ron, grinning proudly, obviously wanting some sort of praise.

"Chamber – what?" Harry yells, still angry. All the awkwardness I've felt towards Ron for the past half hour or so vanishes as I watch Harry turn a vibrant shade of red; it's replaced by annoyance towards Harry – can't he let Ron be the hero just once?

"It was Ron, all Ron's idea. Wasn't it absolutely brilliant?" I say, coming to his defense. "There we were, after you left, and I said to Ron, even if we find the other one, how are we going to get rid of it? We still hadn't gotten rid of the cup! And then he thought of it! The basilisk!"

"What the - ?" Harry's still looking at Ron, expecting an answer from him.

"Something to get rid of Horcruxes," Ron says, gesturing towards the fangs in our hands. Harry still looks startled.

"But how did you get in there?" he asks, squinting at the fangs, then at Ron. "You need to speak Parseltongue!"

"He did!" I beam up at Ron, but Harry just looks at us, disbelieving. I sigh. "Show him, Ron." _And please, get it right the first time._

Ron hisses; Harry's mouth drops open. "It's what you did to get open the locket," he says in response to Harry's shocked look. "I had to have a few tries to get it right, but we got there in the end." He blushes and shifts his weight from foot to foot.

"He was _amazing_!" I exclaim, still smiling. "Amazing!"

"So… so…" A bemused Harry looks from me, grinning wide enough to split my face in half, to Ron, red faced, but quite pleased with himself.

"So we're another Horcrux down!" Ron says, pulling the cup's remains from his jacket and flourishing them around happily, not noticing as I flinch while they pass in front of me, almost swiping my nose. "Thought she should," he continues. "She hasn't had the pleasure yet."

I try to look like Ron had bestowed a great honor on me as Harry punches his fist in the air, shouting, "Genius!"

"It was nothing," Ron replies, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Then, nonchalantly, "So, what's new with you?"

As he speaks, we hear an explosion from overhead, and a scream. I open my mouth to ask Harry if the battle started, but he talks over me, saying he knows where the diadem is – the Room of Requirement.

We hurry in; inside are Ginny, Tonks, and Neville's grandmother, who immediately accosts Harry, asking him what's going on. Then Ginny and Tonks go after him, trying to find out if everyone's alright. Harry brushes them off, though, and sends them out of the room. He's looking around, quite pleased with himself, when Ron speaks.

"Hang on a minute! We've forgotten someone!"

"Who?" I ask, mentally going through names. Remus, here fighting. Fleur, here fighting. Ginny, somewhere in the corridor outside. Kingsley, here fighting. Mrs. Weasley…

"The house elves," he says, looking worried. "They'll all be down in the kitchens, won't they?"

"You mean we ought to get them fighting?" Harry glances over at me, obviously expecting me to stat ranting about SPEW.

"No," he says earnestly. "I mean, we should tell them to get out."

That's the last thing I hear him say. God, Ron's never looked more desirable, and I've never wanted him this badly. Now I know why I didn't kiss him back in the tunnel. Sure, it would have been nice, but it wouldn't have been the _right_ time.

Now, it feels right.

I drop the fangs and fly at Ron, pressing my mouth to his, running my hand through his hair, across his back, feeling him swing me around. Nothing has ever felt so perfect. Here, in the middle of the war, I've finally had it.

My magical moment.

**A/N: The end! This is actually my first completed chapter fic, so I'm pretty happy about that – it definitely taught me the value of prewriting! I hope you guys enjoyed it, and, if you've read to the end, a review would be great; con-crit is welcomed, but really, just a line or two to tell me you've been here is enough. If you've ever posted stories on here, you understand about how happy reviews make me :) So, thanks for reading. Bye! –crescent**


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